Maxene
Feminine · “Latin maximus”
Maximilian was invented in 1459. The Emperor Frederick III made it for his son by joining the names of two Roman generals he admired, Fabius Maximus and Scipio Aemilianus, which makes it one of the few royal names with a known author.
How old is the name Maxene?
Maxene first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Maxene alive today was born around 1926, making them about 99 years old. About 100 people named Maxene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Maxene most popular?
Maxene peaked in 1923, reaching #1520 nationally. Today it ranks #10917, 9,397 places below that high. See the whole 1923 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From maximus to Maxene
The story of Maxene
Frederick III was a humanist emperor with an interest in Roman models, and the account given in the sixteenth century is that he built his son's name out of two of them, taking Maximus from Fabius Maximus, the general who wore Hannibal down by refusing battle, and Aemilianus from Scipio Aemilianus, who destroyed Carthage. Whether the story is exactly true is debated, but the name has no earlier attestation, so something like it happened. Maximilian I became emperor in 1493 and the name spread through the Habsburg lands and then across Catholic Europe. Its short form Max became independent, and Maxine and Maxene are American feminine formations on that, made in the ordinary way with a borrowed ending.
Meaning
Latin maximus, greatest
Maxene is a variant of Maxine, a feminine formation on Max, from Latin maximus, the greatest. The name Maximilian was coined by Frederick III for his son, the future emperor, in 1459. The American peak of this spelling is 1923.
How the name formed
- maximus
- Maximilian
- Max
- Maxene
Related forms: Maxine · Maxine
Pronouncing Maxene
mak-SEEN
Two syllables, stress on the second. Maxine and Maxene are homophones.
Nicknames for Maxene
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1914
- Most girls named
- 192430 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1520reached in 1923
- Change vs 2019
- +33.3%8 in 2025, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Maxene in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Maxine in English — spelling variant
- Maxine in French — same name
Maxenes among us
people named Maxene are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 200,908 born in 2025 was named Maxene
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Gilberta test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Maxene's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Gilberta climbed just as high around 1907, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Gilberta's path sketches the road Maxene is walking now.
Maxene sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Maxene beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Maxene in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Max is a short form that works in every setting.
- The Latin meaning is exact and documented.
- Two syllables with a firm ending.
- Maxine is the standard spelling.
- The 1923 peak dates this form.
- It reads as a formation rather than an inherited name.
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What they receive
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Maxene
Feminine · #10917 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Maxenes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 100 people named Maxene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Maxene in 2025?
- Maxene ranks #10917 among US girl names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Maxene?
- About 1 in every 200,908 US girls born in 2025 was named Maxene — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Maxene with classmates?
- Maxene will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Maxene
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Edythe#10917 · Tessie#10917 · Drusilla#10917 · Eugenie#10917 · Ivah#10917 · Karri#10917 · Claribel#10917 · Myrtle#10917
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Maxene? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Maxene and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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